


Spiced Sage

by minniesundays



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Voldemort, Amortentia, F/M, Fluff, Matchmaker Slughorn, Meddling Theo and Blaise, Pining Draco Malfoy, Potions Class (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:42:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29662632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minniesundays/pseuds/minniesundays
Summary: The Gryffindors and Slytherins are brewing Amortentia in their shared Potions class
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 11
Kudos: 172





	Spiced Sage

**Author's Note:**

> It is my birthday today and I just felt like writing one of my other favorite tropes - smelling each other in Amortentia. I hope you enjoy this oneshot! Thanks for reading :)

Draco Malfoy did not have a fascination with a certain Gryffindor Golden Girl, despite Theo and Blaise’s absurd claims. He was not playing with a tale of a boy pulling a girl’s hair just because he liked her. Just because his eyes followed her as she walked past did not mean he longed to be with her. Just because he knew how she preferred coffee over tea but took a spoonful of honey in her tea – no milk – did not mean that he paid too much attention to her.

Sure, he knew that her lips would move in a silent recitation of the words playing out in front of from whatever new book she was devouring at the moment. And sure, he knew that her hair would sizzle with unbridled magic when she was angry or flustered. But that didn’t mean anything.

He definitely didn’t know that her shampoo must’ve smelled of lavender, coating her curls and filling the air when she fiddled with her mane. He definitely didn’t know that her perfume was a blend of sage and vanilla and spice. Or that he’d come to associate the smell of the library with her. He didn’t know.

He wouldn’t admit that the best parts of his day were when he was with the girl. They’d begrudgingly become somewhat of a studying duo this year. When Draco realized getting Theo or Blaise to step foot in the library without a bribe just simply wouldn’t happen and Granger became fed up with her study sessions with the Moronic Duo transforming into her tutoring them or chastising them for not focusing, they somehow fell in line with each other. They had their own table, stuffed in the back of the library in a corner where no one would bother them. They’d go there almost every day, sometimes there till late in the night.

They didn’t always study, either. Sometimes they’d start up a debate over what was the most important N.E.W.T to achieve. And sometimes they’d get to chatting about a book they’d both read. Which, somehow turned into them hunting down a novel they liked and swapping with other, promising to read it by the end of the week. This led to simply reading next to each other in a little library nook near their table that they transformed with pillows and blankets.

He was simply observant. It did well to pay attention to Granger, what was the saying? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? It was in his nature, he was a Slytherin. Theo and Blaise were conniving bastards though; perhaps he should’ve been watching them instead of the brunette girl.

He watched from across the Great Hall as she smeared marmalade across a piece of toast, her eyebrows scrunched together as she read from a large tome. Light reading, she’d probably say. He could feel a fire swarm in his stomach as he watched the red-headed Weasel lean into her as he talked. She didn’t look up from her reading and for that he was glad. He’d be okay if she just kept her attention on her book.

That didn’t last very long though. It was like she had read his thoughts and was spiting him as she looked up through her eyelashes at her sidekick, a small smile lightening her face. Weasley tucked one of her curls behind her ear before turning back to his meal. Draco was left with nothing to do besides watch as Weasley ate the rest of his meal with a smug smile and Granger sat so close to him their shoulders brushed when they inhaled.

He decided to go to Potions early, his legs carrying him from the table as quick as possible without breaking into a run. He failed to see the knowing smirks and devious look Theo and Blaise sported as he left, his eyes still glued to Granger. Keep your enemies close.

Potions class did nothing to resolve his plights, however. Slughorn announced how they would be brewing Amortentia today and he would be assigning partners. Draco slumped in his chair as he wordlessly waited for his name to be called. He’d probably be paired with Theo, as he was typically his assigned partner in most classes, their names too close alphabetically. When Slughorn immediately broke from his usual trends by assigning Pansy and Longbottom together, followed by Theo and Potter, he knew he was in for it. The old senile man was _setting them up_ , playing matchmaker. The man used to go on about how interhouse couples always lasted longer than couples within houses and now here he was, playing captain of the ship as he steered duos together.

Draco knew Theo was gay, but Potter being interested in guys? That he didn’t know, but maybe it made sense.

Slughorn assigned Daphne and the Weasel together and if Draco had been drinking at the time, his sip would’ve been halfway across the room by now. Daphne was prim and proper, raised for the sole purpose of becoming a Pureblood wife. She had started deviating from those standards lately and embracing the art of progressiveness, but she still slipped back into the norms she was brought up in. He watched as she tucked into the comfort of aristocracy as she demurely walked towards the redhead, her gait light as her feet met the floor.

Slughorn was most definitely off his rocker.

Which meant only one thing.

“Hermione Granger and…Draco Malfoy.”

Should’ve seen that coming.

He slumped further into his seat as he watched Granger gather her books into her arms and shuffle over to his desk. Ungracefully plopping into the seat, she shoved her books onto the table and sat facing him, one leg propped underneath her. The position caused her skirt to ride up on one leg and he had to force his eyes away from the sight of her exposed tan thigh.

“Malfoy.” Her tone was lacking its usual bite and he noticed that her eyes simply held curiosity as she stared at him.

“Granger.” He offered her his usual smirk, watching as she rolled her eyes and busied herself with readying ingredients.

They worked well as partners which had Draco rescinding his previous curses against their professor. They fell into an easy rhythm as they worked around each other, picking up each task and feeding off of the other’s movements.

The easy stopped the second he could smell the potion though. She brushed against his arm as he stumbled from a strong hit of the scents.

A mixture of wind and grass. Flying; easy.

But the scent of old parchment and coffee, an obvious ode to the library, but more so, to sitting in the library next to Granger in their nook.

The last scent was so obviously her that he nearly choked. Spiced sage, from whatever perfume she used.

When Draco chanced a glance her way, he caught her snapping her head away from him, a pretty blush sported on her cheeks.

They were the first pair done, so they had nothing left to do besides sit and wait while the rest of the class finished. It was becoming painful to resist the allure the potion was emitting, Draco almost wanted to just sink into the smell that bled from the cauldron. Instead, he took to staring at Granger.

There was no avoiding it now, he wasn’t keeping his enemies close. He was keeping her close because he liked watching her blush and he liked watching her bite her lip when she was thinking too hard – much like what she was doing at the current moment – and he liked when she’d get fed up with her curls and stuck them into a mess atop her head. He liked pulling her hair and releasing it from the cage of the bun and he liked the glare she’d send his way when he pointed out that she had several quills shoved into her unruly updo.

He liked when they’d debate and argue and tease, he really just liked talking to the witch. She was incredibly clever and witty and their conversations never bored him, he could talk to her for hours on end. He did just that several nights a week.

And he definitely liked when he would catch her staring at him. He liked when she’d snap her head away, her breath catching in the back of her throat, and a hand coming up to rub her neck.

He liked her. He liked Hermione Granger. There was no use denying it anymore.

And from the obvious grins his Slytherin friends were sending him, they’d known it for much longer. And they obviously had somehow managed to pair them together. They must’ve promised something to Slughorn. The ambitious bastard.

So, when Slughorn called on her and asked her to list the scents she gathered from her potion, he had to hold a hand to his chest to prevent his heart from leaping out of the cage behind his sternum and landing into the Gryffindor’s hands.

She said she smelled ink and parchment – books and the library, who would’ve guessed from a girl like her. That’s when it shifted. She said she smelled grass. Grass, as in when he’d return from Quidditch practice and would go straight to the library and read with her. Grass. And a mix of mint and apple, so closely mingled that she couldn’t pick them apart. Menthol, almost.

When class was over and she practically ran out of the classroom, Draco didn’t even think twice about sprinting after her. He caught up to her down the corridor and immediately grabbed her wrist and tugged her into a nearby alcove.

“Listen, Malfoy, it’s fine. I get it, I didn’t know that I would smell you, you don’t have to go through rejecting me or anything. I already know, it’s fine. Now, can you just let me go? I need to get to my next class.”

He didn’t let her go, instead he lifted one hand and pressed it against the wall near her head. He smirked when he could see her harsh swallow in the lines of her throat.

“You don’t want to know what I smelled from the potion?”

He was leaning closer now.

He let his face linger near the top of her head, pressing a quick kiss to her head before lining his lips by her ear, brushing against her skin when he talked.

“Grass and wind, which makes sense because of flying. But then we have old parchment and coffee.”

“You don’t drink coffee,” She whispered.

“I know, but you do.”

He could practically hear the thumping of her heart, the pulse point on her neck straining against her skin.

He didn’t get to tell her the last scent because suddenly her hand was grasping at his tie and pulling him closer to her. Her other hand fisted into his shirt and her lips were on his. It took less than a second for him to beat his surprise, the hand on the wall slipping into her curls and the other cupping her jaw.

She tasted even better than she smelled and he was left chastising himself for not doing this sooner.

He’d have to thank Theo and Blaise for whatever conniving they’d done, but that’d have to wait until he was done kissing Granger. Which, he wasn’t sure he’d ever want to be done with.


End file.
